I wouldn’t be alive without the NHS, and nor would my wife, and nor would my son, so it’s a cause that’s very, very dear to my heart. Less selfishly, it’s also dear to my heart because it’s paid for by general taxation, and is free to anyone at the point of entry, and at the point of exit, and is therefore a service for everyone, regardless of their income. However, while I recognise that certain types of cost-cutting reforms may be required, I cannot trust the Tory-led government to do so responsibly. Despite David Cameron promising to protect the NHS from “top-down reorganisation,” and promising to protect frontline services from the coalition government’s swingeing nationwide programme of cuts, he and the Tories have lied.

Andrew Lansley’s Health and Social Care Bill proposes exactly the sort of “top-down organisation” that David Cameron said wouldn’t happen on his watch, and is a monstrosity, as almost everyone involved in the health service recognises (see here, here, here and here for examples).

Over 450,000 people have signed so far, and 38 Degrees (a people-led campaigning organisation, for those not in the know) would like to reach 500,000 in time for Thursday’s important meeting with Lib Dem members of the House of Lords, when legal experts commissioned by 38 Degrees will be presenting their damning findings about how the Tories’ bill WILL destroy the NHS as we know it.

They [the legal experts] found that the bill does indeed “remove the duty of the secretary of state to provide or secure the provision of health services which has been a common and critical feature of all previous NHS legislation since 1946.″ Furthermore, a “hands-off clause” will “severely curtail the secretary of state’s ability to influence the delivery of NHS care to ensure everyone receives the best healthcare possible.” They conclude the government can now wash its hands of the NHS, while the likelihood of a postcode lottery increases and local accountability decreases.

They also conclude that the bill “will increase competition within the NHS at the expense of collaboration and integration and/or make it almost inevitable that UK and EU competition law will apply as if it were a utility like gas or telecoms.” So despite the coalition’s repeated denials, this legal opinion believes that “these plans will lead to a system geared heavily in favour of private companies.”

So if you want to save the NHS, please sign the petition, and ask everyone you know to do so too.

The text of the petition is as follows:

To the Coalition government,

Our NHS is precious — we won’t forgive you if you ruin it

Don’t break up our health service and hand it to private healthcare companies.

Listen to the real experts — doctors, nurses and patients – when they give warnings about these plans.

Don’t rush through massive changes without testing them properly first.

Protect patient care — don’t cut beds, wards, doctors or nurses.

38 Degrees also notes:

Right now, the government is pushing through changes to our health service which could spell the end of the NHS as we know it. Meanwhile, a funding squeeze means wards are closing and doctors and nurses are being laid off.

Together, we can stop this and save our health service for future generations. We proved that huge petitions can help make the government back down. Now, we need to do the same again to save our NHS.

As a Canadian who’s seen the horrible impact of privatization on a great socialized medical system, I’m happy to sign and share. First it’s the selective privatization of a few services. The inevitable (and calculated) outcome is erosion of the system….less workability…followed by more privatization to fix what was never broken in the first place. A nasty and slippery slope…

Thanks, Ann, George and Nicholas. And George, I think anyone can sign it, but if not why don’t you use my postcode — I can pretend that all my friends around the world live with me in a giant cyberhouse: SE4 1XY.

Go ahead, Dejanka. Thanks. And thanks also, Nicholas. I’m metaphorically waving at you across the vast people-filled valley of the Thames, which most people never see from any kind of elevation. I love Primrose Hill as a vantage point in the north, and One Tree Hill in the south, at Honor Oak, although most people don’t know about it.

As it happens, we’re on Crediton Hill. Lovely view of all of southern half of London from my desk. Btw… would be good to chat sometime by phone if you have a sec. We’re developing a feature on subject of control orders. would be good for you to know about….

Thanks, Rosie. I’m up in Aberdeen showing the film on Friday. A long way to go from London, but I imagine there’ll be lovely people. I went in March last year with Omar Deghayes, and we were very warmly received.
And thanks also, Charmaine. The petition has now reached 458,773 signatures!

Yes, that’s a legitimate concern, James. And when you frame it like that, I hope people not only realise the extent of the threat to the NHS, and what it means, but also realise how many other services, funded by taxation, are also endangered. It’s important to be reminded of the dreadful time before the NHS was founded, and to celebrate its success as a publicly-funded service available to everyone.

I am up for scrapping the NHS. The service is far inferior to private health care. I have experienced both and would rather my money go to a private health care plan than some socialist dream that reduces the efficiency of health care one would typically receive.

Really? OK, well, each to their own. But an insurance scheme for everyone, sourced though general taxation, works for me, and for most other people, according to polling. it depends if you want universal healthcare or just healthcare for those who can pay, I suppose …

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Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo, co-director, We Stand With Shaker. Also, singer and songwriter (The Four Fathers) and photographer. Email Andy Worthington